A proactive approach is required

Thursday

Jun 19, 2014 at 5:00 AM

As the school resource officer in Montevideo, Nick Gunderson has first hand experience with bullying in schools, and outside of them. He has a good idea of where bullying goes on, and knows how to address it, but there is one question he regularly finds himself asking: why?

By Jeremy Jonesstaff writer

As the school resource officer in Montevideo, Nick Gunderson has first hand experience with bullying in schools, and outside of them. He has a good idea of where bullying goes on, and knows how to address it, but there is one question he regularly finds himself asking: why?

“What do (bullies) get out of it?” Gunderson wonders. There is the answer many have heard for a long time — bullying is done to build up self-esteem by bringing others down, but how much does that really help?

It’s a question Gunderson tries to really address when educating students. One of many topics in his lessons is the story of Amanda Todd, a girl who committed suicide at the age of 15 after being bullied and harassed online. After showing students a